


Powerful

by FreckledBannanas (StxrsStillFade)



Category: Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-27
Updated: 2019-08-11
Packaged: 2020-06-28 03:46:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,103
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19804066
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StxrsStillFade/pseuds/FreckledBannanas
Summary: Jack has a power.And so do many others, apparently.☆☆A choose-your-own-adventure book loosely based on "The Girl Who Could Fly" by Victoria Forester and "The Darkest Minds" by Alexandra Bracken. There will be two choices at the end of each chapter. Comment which option you choose.Updates sporadically, don't expect a schedule. The faster people comment, the faster the chapters get out.





	1. ₵Ⱨ₳Ɽ₳₵₮ɆⱤ₴

ᑭOᗯEᖇᔕ:

Jack: **_WALL CRAWLING_** \- _The ability to stick to and move on walls, unaffected by gravity._  
Mark: **_[NO INFORMATION RECOVERED]_**  
Ro: **_EMPATHY_** \- _The ability to sense and feel another's emotions and to manipulate them._  
Matt: **_[NO INFORMATION RECOVERED]_**  
Dan: **_[NO INFORMATION RECOVERED]_**  
Phil: **_WATER MANIPULATION_** \- _The ability to control and alter the movement of water with one's mind._  
Cry: **_[NO INFORMATION RECOVERED]_**  
Ethan: **_HEALING_** \- _The ability to heal oneself and others at will._  
Nate: **_[NO INFORMATION RECOVERED]_**  
Thomas: **_[NO INFORMATION RECOVERED]_**  
Felix: **_SHAPESHIFTING_** \- _The ability to transform oneself into other people and objects at will._  
James: **_[NO INFORMATION RECOVERED]_**  
Jaiden: **_[NO INFORMATION RECOVERED]_**  
Lilly: **_[NO INFORMATION RECOVERED]_**  
Jimmy: **_[NO INFORMATION RECOVERED]_**

_『Status: Unfinished; explore more to reveal more characters!』_


	2. ☆ ᎮᏒᎧᏝᎧᎶᏬᏋ ☆

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The start of something great.

Ꭵ ᏗᏝᏇᏗᎩᏕ ᏦᏁᏋᏇ Ꭵ ᏇᏗᏕᏁ'Ꮦ ᏁᎧᏒᎷᏗᏝ.

It might have started when I was a few years old.

Maybe when I was going to Kindergarten.

I can't really remember much before that. One of my earliest memories is one of me attempting to hide from my mother because I clawed out a chunk of brownie from a newly cooked pan.

My mom walked in the living room to find the culprit, only to find chocolatey fingerprints up the walls, leading to a six (6) year old Jack with brownie crumbs on his shirt and frosting around his mouth.

Things got better from there, but my mom forbade me from ever, ever doing it again.

Of course, a little kid is unable to understand why he'd have to hide the fact that he's special. Isn't that what everyone wants?

That's normal thinking for a six-year-old. I never actually listened to my mom.

But now, at sixteen, with a helicopter outside and strangers in my living room, I'm starting to have second thoughts.

Effortlessly clinging to the wall surrounding the staircase, I attentively listen in to the conversation going on between his mother and...someone.

"...not dangerous Liz, I swear. He doesn't have a bad bone in his body!"

"Of course not. I believe you. It's just that...other people are scared of kids like him. If he doesn't get out soon, who knows what could happen? People could take it into their own hands, and you'll be left with nothing but a dead son to mourn over."

"..."

The girl's words shake me to the point of almost falling off the wall. I know what I did was stupid and against his mother's number one rule, but it was more in self-preservation than malice. Kind of?

**_**About One Week Ago**_ **

**_I heard loud yelling from behind me, but I calmed my nerves and clutched my backpack, continuing the walk home, albeit faster than before. This was almost as stupid as running up to them and starting small talk because bullies do not like to be ignored. I heard their slow walking break into a run, and I knew from experience that things were about to get real ugly._ **

**_I started running too, my bookbag bouncing on my back as I made sharp turns to get to my house. This is familiar terrain, but I must have had a brain lapse because I ended up in a dead end alley that I could've sworn was a shortcut home._ **

**_I turned around to see four people, three of which were ridiculously taller than me looking mad as hornets and twice as fierce. I knew them well-- they'd been my bullies since about 7th grade. Steve, Billy, Damien and Jonas. Billy was fourteen (14) or fifteen (15), and short, but he was still an arse and hated me. There used to be Mark, too. He was really just an egotistical prat who had a high enough social status to be considered as cool. He was best friends with Damien and less physical than the rest of them, but still a crappy person. Just not as irredeemable. He moved away about a year or two ago, so that took a lot of weight off my shoulders._ **

**_Jonas, the tallest of all of them, advanced forward and grabbed the front of my shirt, lifting me off the ground. "Were you ignoring us, you little prat?"_ **

**_I shook my head frantically, trying to avoid any further conflict. The terror in my eyes must've been evident because I heard the boys laughing in the background._ **

**_Billy let out a fake gasp and said, "You're lying too? That's just going to make this worse for you."_ **

**_I couldn't help it. I leaned to the side to make eye contact with the little arse and yelled, "Letting your cronies do the dirty work for you, Billy? Scared of getting your hands dirty?"_ **

**_He let out a borderline sadistic giggle, covering his mouth in mock politeness before actually giving a response. "Why yes, Jack. I am." He nodded at Jonas, who grinned and muttered, "You're in for a world of hurt, Jackass." And then he punched me in the nose._ **

**_The pain took a little while to come, probably because of the adrenaline, so I took the opportunity to push on Jonas' chest and get out of his grip. I could feel the blood running out of my nose, which I wiped away with the back of my hand. I backed up against the wall as Steve, Damien, and Jonas approached. It had been a while since this had happened. I felt as if I was going to break down. And something in me snapped. I put up with this for years, they should have to suffer, too. It's not fair._ **

**_I pressed my palms against the wall, grinning like a madman and confusing all four of the boys enough that they stopped moving. I turned around and yelled a loud, "Sayonara, suckers!" before crawling up the alley wall and around the building to the left, dropping on the other side and booking the rest of the way home._ **

**_**Present**_ **

I cringe at my past actions. God, I was such an idiot. Those boys probably ran home screaming to their mommies and/or called the police or something. It's no coincidence that someone came to my house a _week_ later about my power.

And anyway, this is stupid. _I_ know I would never use my powers to do something evil, but this lady sure doesn't. Or maybe she does? I should probably pay more attention to what she's saying.

"...me. This is for the best. It's to keep him _safe_." She has a British accent. I can't tell which part, but it's distinct and clear. She doesn't sound like she's lying.

"...What did you say the name of the place was again?"

My eavesdropping is interrupted when footsteps start approaching the stairwell. This time, I do fall off the wall, partially in fear and partially because I need to get back in my bedroom, _pronto_. I land on my feet, a feat that I'd learned to do over the years of practising when my mom wasn't around. I dash to his room and jumps back into bed, doing my best to make it seem as if I'd been sleeping the whole time.

I hear the people enter the room, and someone with warm hands started shaking me, but I keep still and loose and I try and act as if I'm sleeping. The figure shaking me giggles. Their voice is female and silly and relaxed, almost as if she _wasn't_ intruding in someone's house.

"Come on silly, I know you're awake! I can feel it."

What does she mean by "feel" it? That's a weird way to phrase it, but I keep still and hope she doesn't notice my heart rate picking up. Then another voice speaks up, deeper this time.

"Hey, if Ro thinks you're awake, you're awake. Get up before I _make_ you get up."

I'm not stupid, and that was a clear threat. I sit up in bed and turn to see an extremely short girl about by age playfully pushing a kid taller than me. "Don't scare him, Ry!" she says lightheartedly. "You're scaring him!"

"Yeah Ro, it's was supposed to scare him. Look, he's awake now." He gestures towards me, then greets with a quiet, "'Sup."

I wave back at him, my hand trembling. The girl, who I can only assume to be Ro, gazes at me intensely, looking me directly in the eyes. Then her look softened, and she grinned. "You're worried, guilty, scared, and afraid that someone's gonna find out about something." She wags her finger at me sassily. "You were eavesdropping on your mom talking with Liz, weren't you? That's kind of rude, you know."

All I can respond with is a weak, "Sorry?" as my mind tries to process how in the world she would know how exactly how I was feeling. It was like a creepy, indirect version of mind reading. But that's impossible, mind reading isn't a thing. It doesn't exist.

Another figure runs into the room and I stiffen, my shoulders raising up and tensing before realising that it's my mom as she crashes into me, giving me a tight hug. I almost topple over, and I can see Ro and the other guy politely walking out of the room, presumably to talk to "Liz," whoever that was.

My mom is rambling off some poppycock about "going somewhere safe" and "other kids like you" and a couple of other things I don't catch until I start saying, "Woah, woah, mom, calm down. What's going on?"

She pulls back and looks at me with a fake smile that doesn't reach her eyes. She looks as if she's going to cry, and her hands are shaking intensely as they hold my shoulders for obvious support. "My friend, she said...she said that she made a place for children like you." Her voice hitches and my eyes are clearly concerned, but she continues. "It's very far away, and you might not be able to come back for a--" she pauses for a moment, clearing her throat. "You might not be able to come back for a long time."

I scowl at her defiantly. "Yeah, well, what if I don't want to?"

"I'm afraid you don't have a choice, Jack."

I turn around on my knees to see a girl about my age dressed in black come through the doorway. She's extremely pale, nearing translucent and glowing with the moonlight shining through the window. Her hair is almost white, and it reaches down past her shoulders.

I make a face at her and say, "Who're you?"

My mom smacks my shoulder weakly and says, "Be nice."

The girl chuckles. "It's fine, he has a right to be confused." She's about a half-foot shorter than me, which actually makes me scared of her more? She's so tiny and he broke into my house with a helicopter and maybe probably armed guards. That's scary. She turns to look me in the eyes and at that moment I come to a realisation. She can't be much older than me, maybe even younger. How does she know my mom? I've never seen her before, and I don't think my mom has ever mentioned having a teenager as a friend. All of a sudden I feel even more suspicious of her, but I decide not to act on it. I'm probably just overthinking it. She walks towards me and holds out her hand to shake, saying, "My name is Elizabeth, but you can call me Lizzie. I'd love to explain what's going on to you, but it's extremely late and we really must be going. Your mother has already agreed to let you come."

I turn to look at my mom with an incredulous expression. She sheepishly shrugs and responds with a weak, "It's the only option, Jack, please."'

"Mom, I'm almost an adult!" I yell. "Don't you think I can make these kinds of decisions for _myself??_ I can't just let these people I don't know whisk me away to some random place without my say! That's not fair!"

Her eyes start to well up once more and I immediately feel the guilt. I can practically feel the indifference coming from Elizabeth, and it makes me want to punch something. My mom's chest fills up and she almost falls in her attempt to give me a hug, which I gratefully accept. She's definitely crying now.

A few seconds pass and Elizabeth coughs in an attempt to continue the conversation. My mom lets go of me and I stand up to turn to Elizabeth. She fake smiles and it makes me even uneasier.

"I'm sorry for the sudden encounter, Jack, but we had to get here as quickly as possible. As soon as we were alerted to the possibility of someone being a super, there's a sense of urgency that emerges. Who knows what other people would do with this information?"

I shrug at her. "Am I supposed to leave...now? Can't I pack my stuff first or something?"

"No." Her expression changes from one of easiness to seriousness. "We have to leave immediately. We already have word on other people attempting to contact the police about your powers. A kid named Billy and his dad, Steve?" My eyes flicker around the room and towards the ground. Oops? "Anyways, the police didn't really think of this as a serious claim -- good on them -- so they've mostly ignored them. But I don't know if those two will persist, and there has been a history of the police..." She pauses, looking for the right words. "Not handling these kinds of cases well."

I look at her incredulously. That's extremely, and I mean so extremely ominous that I even see my mom frown out of the corner of my eye.

"I'm sure that this is confusing and such, but we really must go. And, and I really do apologize, if you don't come easily, then force will have to be applied."

My eyes grow wide and my mom swiftly stands up and puts her hand on my shoulder, most likely about to tell this lady off in some fierce, scary, mom way. I probably would have let her, but something about the way the dude threatened me earlier and the threat from Elizabeth doesn't rub me the right way. And by that, I mean that they were obvious threats, and seeing as how they literally broke into my house in the middle of the night and look like they're part of the SWAT team, I feel like I should take them seriously. I take my mom's hand off of my shoulder and give her a look that's supposed to tell her that I'll be fine. I don't know if she understands, but she backs up anyways.

"Thank you," says Elizabeth calmly. "This makes it easier for all of us. Jack--"

"My name is Seán, thanks."

Elizabeth narrows her eyes at me. I didn't mean for it to come out so icily, but she is trampling all over my buttons and I'm getting sick of it. "Sorry, Seán. We'll be leaving now, best to start early."

Yeah, early. It's about 2AM, and I'm basically dead at this point. "Shouldn't I pack something or something?"

Elizabeth shakes her head. "Of course not. We've already got everything you need back at the facility. We typically allow people to bring one or two personal belongings, so grab whatever you want to bring and meet us downstairs in about three minutes." She turns swiftly and exits, and my mom follows her presumably to talk about more things.

There's really nothing for me to grab. I don't have anything that holds an extreme amount of sentimental value to me, so I just grab my journal and a few pencils and pens and stick them into the binding. I take a look at my room. I'm probably not going to be back here any time soon, so I try and take it all in before dashing down the stairs and into the living room, where Elizabeth and all her probably-armed-guards wait at the door and my mother sits on the couch, staring blankly into space.

"Alright, we're done here! Time to go." Elizabeth's chipper tone makes me extremely uneasy. And my mom's silence makes me feel sick. She says nothing as I'm taken out the door and into the lawn, where a helicopter waits. I've never seen one up close, and the noise alone makes me wish it had stayed the way. We all file into the helicopter, and before I blink, we're taking off. I'm staring down at my house from hundreds of feet in the air when the door swings open and my mother runs out, yelling something in my direction. It's probably a goodbye, but I can't hear her at this height and with this noise.

"So, Seán," Elizabeth's light voice somehow carries louder than my mother's yells from down below, and I turn my attention to her. "Powers, what are they? You never directly told me." She has a clipboard in her hand that was resting on the seat when they came.

I look at her in the eyes. Do I tell her? There's no way she doesn't already know, right?

Do you:  
**TELL THE TRUTH**? or ᴸᴵᴱ ᵀᴼ ᴴᴱᴿ?

**(Remember: Your Actions Have Consequences!)**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is also uploaded on my Wattpad, so please remember that I am updating these vaguely at the same time. The results might be altered by the comments from there.


	3. ☆ CHAPTER ONE ☆

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _I know him_   
>  _That can't be_   
>  _That's that little guy who spoke to me_   
>  __  
>  **I Know Him, Hamilton**   
> 

I scratch the back of my neck. There's no need to lie, she probably already knows and it won't benefit anyone.

"Yeah, uh, I've kind of been able to stick to walls and surfaces and stuff and move around on them."

She doesn't even bat an eye. Oh yeah. She totally knows. "When do you remember this starting to happen."

"I dunno, since I was five? Six? Something like that."

Elizabeth taps her clipboard with her pen. "So. Wall-crawling. Impressive, but not terribly so."

I scowl at her. "What's that supposed to mean?"

She waves her hand in a placating manner. "I didn't mean it in a rude way. Many people have terribly destructive, awe-striking powers that need to be contained. Your power is more stealth-related, and although it's quite impressive, it's no reason to start yelling."

I live her a look. That didn't answer the question at all, it actually kind of made it worse. But I ignore it for now.

"Seán, do you even know why I'm taking you away?"

I shake my head silently. I really don't know. All I know is that we're going to a place with other people with powers, and as cool as that sounds, it probably has some terrible, life-threatening catch.

"When it comes to people like you and everyone else at the facility, there seems to be a trend. Once you start to get older, your powers begin to weaken, and after a while, they disappear with a bang. The powers disappear along with the user's memory of having them, along with recent memories. Their physical strength also degrades by a lot, but that is more of a temporary problem."

I look at her incredulously. I called it, didn't I? There _was_ some life-threatening catch that I wasn't told about, and I'm _this close_ to freaking out. Elizabeth seems to be taking mental notes about this. I seem to be this close to punching her.

"At the facility, our scientists are attempting to prevent this from happening. We've extended the age to about twenty five--"

" _Twenty five_? That's nothing! That's not even a decade from now, that's barely anything!"

"Seán, the typical age for power-loss used to be about eighteen. Calm down. There are still abnormalities, some people experience this earlier, but we run tests and do projects so we can prevent this tragedy from happening."

"What kind of tests?"

She doesn't answer. I can feel the mood shift, and the two people that sit behind us, Ro and Ry, start shuffling in their seats. The change in tone makes my arm riddled with goosebumps. My mind starts filling to the brim with questions. What kind of tests are they doing that makes everyone react this way? Is this some horror story torture stuff? Is there a way to leave a helicopter that's still in midair?

The silence is deafening. I almost prefer Elizabeth's creepy monologuing than the quiet. Almost. I can deal with it. I look out the side of the helicopter. We're flying over mountains now, and I can see an ocean in the distance. How long have we been flying for? It can't have been more than a few minutes, yet I can see the sun rising as we go over the giant body of water...?

That's _impossible_. The ocean was just in the distance a couple of seconds ago. I look back at Elizabeth, who seems to be concentrating on her clipboard. She appears to be slightly strained. In the short amount of time I was looking on the helicopter, we seem to have crossed the entire body of water and are now over a forest. I can see some kind of tall structure in the distance, and it seems to look like some kind of school. An enormous school, though. It's several stories tall and impossibly wide, though I can't really make out any small details.

I look back at Elizabeth, pointing out the helicopter. "Is that where we're going?"

"Yes." She answers me without even looking up from her clipboard. A few seconds pass, and she sighs and finally puts down her pen. "Yes, it's supposed to look like a school. You will attend the appropriate classes until there is no need to, then you can continue learning if you wish. That option is really only for the try-hards, though." She makes a stupid face. "I actually think you might know someone there. We got him from the same area as you...his name is Mark Fischbach, have you heard of him?"

Now it's my turn to make a face. What are the chances? The same Mark Fischbach that bullied me from 7th grade, the same one who supposedly moved away two years ago? That Mark Fischbach? All I can muster up is a weak, "Yeah, I know him."

"Oh, that's perfect!" Elizabeth replied happily. "He can show you around!"

"Yeah, uh..." I scratch the back of my neck. "We don't have the greatest history. He was, like, a terrible person to me."

I hear the girl in the back seat exclaim in surprise. The guy snorts and Elizabeth looks incredulous. "Mark? Terrible? I don't think we're talking about the same person, Mark is one of the _nicest_ guys I know."

I give her a look. "Yeah, we're talking about the same person. I guess he wasn't that bad, but still. He can't have done that much of a change."

Elizabeth shrugs. This change of demeanor is making me uneasy. A few moments ago, she was all serious and scary, and now she's acting like a normal teenager. I can't tell which one is the real version of her. It's actually quite hard to tell, and that's what I'm thinking about as the helicopter descends onto a pad in the middle of the forest. Everyone starts filing out of the helicopter and I'm just like, what is going on, we're in the middle of the thick woods where in the world are you guys even going?

They all start walking on a trail that I hadn't seen before. Oh. But this isn't any ordinary path through the forest. It's paved and pristine, as if the person that made it really didn't want anyone getting dirt on their shoes. Considerate. Nice! I can see the facility over the trees, and I feel like this is going to be a long walk, but as soon as I step on the trail, we're approaching the end. I feel like I'm strangling myself by restraining from asking any questions, but I'm probably going to sound stupid by asking them. I know that I'm not imagining it, though, and that's good enough for now.

We approach the entrance, which kind of reminds me of the entrance to a hospital, with an extended canopy that we all stood under, waiting for Elizabeth to finish doing...whatever she's doing. I notice that even though this _looks_ like the front of the school/facility, there's no door. There is a keypad, though, and that's what Elizabeth is tapping numbers into. Something extends from the keypad, and she leans in with her eye wide open. It seems to be scanning her.

"RETINA SCAN COMPLETE." The keypad yells. "WELCOME: Elizabeth D."

I frown for a moment. Why wouldn't it say her last name? I find it suspicious, but there isn't much time to dwell on that because the surface that we're standing on starts to descend into the ground. I almost fall over, but that little girl -- Ro, I think was her name -- steadies me with a smile. I mutter a quiet thanks, my face turning red.

Elizabeth turns to face us. "Oop, I'm sorry. I should have warned you." She makes a quick gesture towards our surroundings. It's just concrete walls. "This is just a safety precaution. There isn't anything really important underneath the school. We'll be using the main elevator to get up to the third floor."

The 'elevator' stops in a giant, empty, pitch-black dark room. The only thing my eyes can pick up is a glass elevator, glowing in the darkness. It's ominous and I don't want to go in it, but everybody is already moving, so I reluctantly follow. As soon as everyone is inside, it shoots upwards. My stomach drops and I close my eyes.

In a matter of seconds, the elevator stops and opens up to a normal looking hallway. It looks straight out of a high school.

"Rosanna, Ryan, you both can go change or whatever. Make sure you're in the cafeteria before 7:30!" Says Elizabeth lightly. The two brush past us and go to the right, and Elizabeth starts walking to the left. "Seán, follow me. I'm going to show you your room, and tell you some basic rules." I'm barely listening to her, though. This place is huge. It reminds you of a college dorm hallway, but it extends so freaking far, I'm not sure if I can even see the end of it. Elizabeth doesn't seem to be intimidated whatsoever, though, and she leads me to a room with a door that looks exactly like the others. There's no difference besides the number, and I don't even think she looked up at it.

She's honestly starting to freak me out. Moreso than before, I mean.

She opens the door and I am shown a room that...it's partially occupied, half of it is an organised mess and the other half is pristine and untouched. She steps aside for me to walk in, and I do. The room is huge, and I'm pretty sure it has a bathroom for both me and the person who also lives here. Separate bathrooms.

I turn to face Elizabeth and ask, "Who else lives here?"

She furrows her brow and frowns. "I...can't remember? Sorry."

She shrugs and pulls something out of her pocket, a sci-fi looking, metal bracelet with a square on it that looks as if it should be lighting up. She holds it out. "This is what everyone at the facility wears. Well, all of the students. It's a rating system for you kids." She's literally younger than me, I don't know what she's going on about by saying 'you kids.' "It starts at red, which is harmless. Contradictory to how red is associated with bad, I didn't make the system. Then yellow, which is fine, I guess. Either formidable powers or slightly aggressive. Then there's green, which is slightly worrisome. Either a fighter or crazy awesome powers. Blue is dangerous and should not be able to wander freely or do things on their own. Purples are killed on sight."

My eyes widen and I stare at her with a frightened expression. " _Killed_?"

She waves her hand in a placating manner. "Don't worry, there's only ever been two purples, and they both have tried to do really stupid things against the facility that endangered other students' lives. Er, one of them is still here, but he was only purple for a...you know what? Nevermind. Just ignore that for now. Hold out your arm, please."

I do as she asks. I kind of feel self-conscious as she pushes up my sweatshirt sleeve to reveal my pencil-like arm. She clamps the stupid bracelet around my left wrist. It feels lighter than I thought, and I stare in awe as the square flickers to life, glowing a dull, red colour. She smiles at me. "See? Nothing to worry about. You won't be able to take that off, by the way, so please don't try." She starts to leave the room. I quickly remove my eyes from the bracelet and begin to follow her.

"You'll be able to become more familiar with your room -- and your roommate -- over time. We're going to go to the cafeteria now. Everyone's having breakfast, and there you'll be able to eat. I'll have Phil and Dan give you a tour since the more appropriate people will be occupied for the morning."

We go back into the elevator and start sinking down to the first floor. The elevator opens, and I am greeted with a normal looking high school hallway. There seem to be classes lining the walls, but the distinct lack of lockers kind of jumps out to me. It's a silly detail to pay attention to, but it's really weird for some reason. I don't have much time to dwell on this though, because Elizabeth is already walking out of the elevator. I really don't get how she's so much faster than me. She's so tiny.

In a few moments, we're in front of the large double door that is clearly the entrance to the cafeteria. I can hear kids in there. So many kids. So many more than in the cafeteria in my school. I stand next to her, and she pushes the doors open. Instantly, I'm hit with the voices of what seems to be several hundred children all at once. My hands instinctively begin to crawl up to my ears to block out the noise. I suddenly feel self-conscious and stick them into my pockets before anyone notices. Nobody's looking at me, though. If anybody's looking in our direction, they're looking at Elizabeth.

She leads me directly to a group of lunch tables in the middle right of the cafeteria. Almost everyone looks up at her, save for three people -- a tall kid writing in a notebook, a black-haired kid my height who's looking over his shoulder, and _Mark_.

I stiffen almost immediately and look down, pushing my hands farther down into my pockets. The bracelet makes it uncomfortable, though. I feel as if I'm going to start hating it soon enough. Why did she bring me here when I said that Mark didn't like me? Is she just trying to make me uncomfortable? Is it because of the other kids? What's he writing? Who are Phil and Dan? I should probably start paying attention to what Elizabeth is saying.

"...him here because you are like, the only decent friend group here, so please don't disappoint me." She smiles at them. A few of the kids smile back. Some of them seem to be relaxing as if they expected that she came with bad news. "Dan, Phil," Two boys snap to attention. One has striking blue eyes and is extremely pale, the other has curly hair and dark eyes. "I'm going to need you to show him around. Everyone else is busy this morning, and I trust you both." One of them looks ecstatic. The other looks like he could care less, if not slightly perturbed. He keeps looking to the exits -- or entrances? -- as if he's expecting someone to walk through.

"I won't let you down!" Says one of the boys with a bright smile.

Elizabeth looks at the brown-haired boy. "Dan? What about you?"

"Huh? Yeah, okay." Dan replies. He looks unenthusiastic and distracted. The other boy -- whom I'm assuming to be Phil -- nudges him with his elbow, and Dan perks up and gives Elizabeth a thumbs up with a fake smile.

Contented, Elizabeth turns to me and reaches up to whisper in my ear, "Everyone else here is either super weird or super dumb and feels like they're privileged in some way, just give these guys a try. And give _Mark_ a try, please?" She steps back and I nod, and she leaves the cafeteria in a rush after checking her watch while moving away.

I glance back at the table and I realise that everyone's looking at me.

I take in a sharp breath, look down, and, using my peripheral vision, move to the closest unoccupied seat, in between a younger boy with blue hair and guy with blond hair and blue eyes, both of which immediately looked at me upon my sitting down. Mark is sitting behind the blue-haired kid, not looking at me. There's no way he hasn't noticed by now. The little kid with the blue hair grinned at me and leaned on the table with an arm lazily extended.

"I'm Ethan! Thirteen-year-old healer with nothing better to do besides talk for the cowards he calls his friends." Mark punches his shoulder and a kid with curly hair sitting across from Ethan flips him off. He just laughs.

I blink. He came on a bit strong and I wasn't prepared whatsoever. I guess that his power is healing, which is freaking awesome. My eyes flick down to his bracelet, resting on the table. Red. Huh. "Hi, I guess. I'm Jack --"

"Jack?" Interrupts the curly-haired boy. "I thought Lizzie said your name was Shawn?"

I can almost hear him spelling my name as 'Shawn' in his head. It gets kind of annoying sometimes. When people _hear_ my name, they think it's spelt 'Shawn,' and when people _see_ my name they think it's pronounced 'Seen.' I can't win. I open my mouth to respond to him when Mark surprises everyone and does it for me.

"It's Irish, Tyler. The nickname for Seán is Jack." He gives me a tiny wave. "Hi, Jack."

I wave back at him uncertainly. I study him while dialogue passes through my ears.

"That's weird, they sound literally nothing alike."

"Don't be a douche, Tyler."

He doesn't really _look_ any different, if not a little taller. He has on a t-shirt with pink on the sleeves, which isn't very out of the ordinary, but his hair is dyed a bright red instead of the normal brown.

"Wait, Mark, you _know_ this kid?"

"What do you mean 'kid,' Ethan? He's older than you."

"You're avoiding the question!"

"You're being dumb."

I see Ethan stick his tongue out at Mark. Mark flips him off, and I can see his bracelet's colour -- yellow. I have a lot of questions for him.

"So," a voice speaks up from my right. It's the blond kid. He has a Swedish accent and is taller than me. That isn't saying much, though. Almost everyone is taller than me. "I'm Felix. What's your power?"

I look back at him and bite the corner of my mouth. "I'm Jack. What's yours?"

The curly-haired guy across the table -- Tyler -- makes a stupid expression that reminds of the face made by the lady from the 'And I Oop' video.

Felix chuckles, though it doesn't sound happy. "It's nothing special. I can turn into stuff."

I raise an eyebrow. "Like...shapeshifting?"

"It's pretty much shapeshifting. But there's like, a delay. Also, I can turn into other people. If I may demonstrate..." He holds out his hand and I flick my eyes down to look at his bracelet -- green. I look him in the eyes sceptically. It's not like he's given me a reason to not trust him, but we _just_ met. And, unfortunately, I am not keen on holding hands with strangers.

But before I can say anything, Felix grabs my wrist and doesn't let go. I finally manage to pull out of his grasp after about three seconds, and I look back to him with a bewildered expression, but I find myself staring me in the eyes.

Felix grins, and I can't help but grin with him. I guess my smile really is contagious. It's really weird to look myself in the eyes without a mirror anywhere near. I notice that his bracelet is still green, even though mine is red. His eyes are a duller blue than mine, but other than that, we look identical.

"Why is my -- your -- bracelet still green? Mine is red." I hold up my hand and turn it to show him.

He shrugs nonchalantly. "The bracelets stay the same when I turn into different patients. The green is incorporated if I turn into inanimate objects, too. And my eyes stay blue."

"Why'd you have to grab my wrist?"

Mark shakes his head from behind Ethan. "Felix, I told you about consent --"

"Shut up, Mark," He rolls his eyes. "I can't turn into stuff without touching it for at least three seconds. It's weirdly specific, but that's what has to happen. Unless I know the thing well, then I can do it from memory. Like, here --" Felix shuts his eyes and squeezes them together, seeming to be extremely focused on something, and all of a sudden, I don't see myself anymore. In Felix's place, sitting on the bench, is a tiny, black pug with similarly black eyes, looking content. Ethan leans out from behind me to look at him.

"That is so freaking cool!" I say enthusiastically. "Can you...like...talk?"

"Pshh," Felix scoffs. Something seems off about it. "Of course I can talk. This is my dog, Edgar Allen Pug." I can hear someone let out a short, amused 'ha' from across the table. It seemed to come from the kid writing in a notebook that wasn't paying attention when I arrived. Is he listening? He's still writing. Felix becomes what I believe to be his normal form -- could he just be stealing someone's identity? -- and leans with one elbow on the table, his head in its hand. "So, what's your power?"

I can feel all the attention return to me. My face flushes and I squeak, "It's nothing any good, really..."

Dan scoffs from across the table. "My _God_ , get over yourself. Nobody's going to attack you, just _say it_."

This doesn't really help, and I shrink into my hoodie, embarrassed. I see Phil nudge Dan on the shoulder and Dan shoots him an exasperated expression. Phil looks back at me apologetically and starts talking instead.

"Look, I can tell you for sure that nobody's going to judge you. Like, I can shoot water out of my fingers. It's not that impressive." To demonstrate, he shoots a tiny squirt of water from this pointer finger. It sure _looks_ like it could be impressive, even if that specific move was kind of pathetic. "Ro can feel things and Nate over there can yell really loud. You're fine."

I look at him, eyebrows slightly raised, expression surprised. "Um," I mutter. "Okay. I guess. I can stick to things? Like, walls, and surfaces and stuff. Kind of like Spiderman, I guess. Been doing it since I was five, so I'm pretty good at it." I shrug, slightly more comfortable. Phil looks excited and everyone else has a curious expression.

"Can we...see it??" Says Ethan.

"Um...sure, I guess." I get up from my seat and walk around the table to the wall behind Dan and Phil and Tyler. I feel a bit more confident now, and I place my hands on the wall and start pulling, effortlessly sticking. I then start standing on the wall, more-or-less showing off. I walk up the wall, and then, without hesitation, lift a leg and stick to the ceiling.

The blood rushes to my head, but it's such a normal feeling that I don't notice. The ceiling is incredibly high, and I peek down at the ground through my hair. Everyone at the table is craning their necks to look, and I see Tyler yell 'Show-off!' at me. I laugh, stick one hand in my pocket and use the other to flip him off. To add insult to injury, I take a deep breath and crouch, preparing for the stupid stunt I'm about to pull.

I jump from the ceiling to the wall, arms outstretched to absorb the force from hitting the surface. I broke my arm once by doing this, and I have become stronger since then, practising how to land so it doesn't hurt. Thankfully, I pulled it off correctly, and I landed perfectly as everyone watches. I feel proud of myself, almost. Instead of shrinking away from everyone's stares, I accept them.

Suddenly, Mark stands up, grinning but also trying to look angry. "I knew you for _five years_ , and you never slipped up about this?! How the heck!?"

I raise an eyebrow at him. I can feel my confidence draining away already, but I do give him a pointed look as I sit down and refuse to answer his question. He knows I don't like him. I'm trying to make it as obvious as possible -- and it works. He sits back down, and I can see several people at the table looking back and forth between the two of us. As soon as I reach my seat, Ethan groans and makes a face at me. I give him a questioning look, and he responds by asking, "What is going _on_ with you and Mark? You've both been all weird this entire time!"

I shrug and look at the table, silent. Mark fumbles with his words, stuttering out a weak, "We, uh, don't have the greatest history.'

"What is _that_ supposed to mean?"

"It _means_ that I treated him like crap while we were in school. Together. Before the facility, I mean. When we were younger."

"What, did you tease him about his height or something?" I give Ethan a look and he sticks his tongue out at me. "I can't have been that bad."

"Uh," Mark starts. "Well..."

"I think we should hear it straight from the horse's mouth." Says Tyler, who'd been listening to the conversation silently. "Jack, how bad was it?"

Do you:

Ovєrєхαggєrαtє or 丅ᗴᒪᒪ 丅ᕼᗴ 丅ᖇᑌ丅ᕼ?

(Remember: Your Actions Have Consequences!)


End file.
